11:08AM, Wed Mar 21, 2012

The Futureheads On Their New A Cappella Album

By India Adams Location: Sunderland

Video: The Futureheads on their a cappella album, 'Rant'.

Sunderland band The Futureheads are releasing a completely a cappella album.

Known for their thrashing guitars riffs, the band are temporarily turning their backs on rock and roll.

The album, entitled 'Rant', has no instrumentation just an arrangement of harmonies for four voices.

Lead singer, Barry Hyde, said: “We’ve never done anything like this before and neither have any of our contemporaries, apart from people who set themselves up as a cappella artists.

“We did it because we’d made four albums that were very much all about guitars.

“We decided to strip that away, not to forget it, but to have a break from it and just take it down to the pure voice.”

To accompany the album, The Futureheads will also be performing a mix of a cappella and acoustic songs for their UK tour, another first for the band.

South Shields photographer Ian West recently worked with them to create a preview video of the tour to give their audiences a taste of what to expect.

Guitarist, Ross Millard, said: “The video is a montage of a lot of the different songs, arrangements and set ups we’ll be performing. It gives you a little glimpse of everything.

“We filmed at a few different locations in Sunderland like Penshaw Monument and Tunstall Hill and I think they just stand out.”

Barry Hyde added: “It was nice to tie in what we’re doing with where we’re from.”

The Futureheads UK tour starts April 2, 2012, when they will also be releasing their album, ‘Rant’.

For more information, visit The Futureheads website www.thefutureheads.com